Tracer and incendiary bullet



W. L. CLAY.

TRACER AND INCENDIARY BULLET.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1B. 1918.

1,333,83%D Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

WALLACE L. CLAY, OF UNITED STATES ARMY.

TRACER AND INCENDIARY BULLET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1c, 1920.

Application filed November 18, 1918. Serial No. 263,048.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT or Manon a, 1883, 22 's'm'r. L., 625.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE L. CLAY,

lieutenant colonel, Ordnance Dept, United States Army, a citizen of the United States,

stationed at Frankford Arsenal, have in-- vented an ln'lprovement in Tracer and Incendiary Bullets, of which the followlng 1s a specificatlon.

The invention described herein may be or adjust a firearm as to accurately place future shots,if required, and has for one of its objects to provide a device of this char acter adapted to be projected from a firearm and capable of emitting a pencil of visible taper by day or a pencil of light by night to denote the line of flight, and to pierce the objective and emit a cloud of vapor by day or a flash of light at night to indicate that the projectile has reached the objective, and likewise to produce a conflagration or an explosion of the contents of the objective.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character having means whereby the vapor and light-producing element and the confiagration element are protected during the flight of the projectile. I

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain new and useful improvements hereinafter described and specificall set forth in the claims, and in the drawlngs illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the projectile complete.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the jacket or envelop.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the soft metal or lubricating member in blank ready to be forced into the jacket Q1: shell.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the receptacle for the tracer composition,

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail illustrating a modification in the construction.

The improved device comprises a slug or core 10 of armor piercing metal such as solid steel, pointed at the forward end and inclosed in a jacket or shell 11. The shell is pointed at the forward end and is preferably of a metal or metallic compound which will be fractured or shattered by impact with a resisting body such as armor plate, engine casings, or other resisting material.

The outer jacket or shell is preferably formed of cu'pro-nickel, gilding metal, onpro-nickel steel, or the like, but may be of copper clad steel when the projectile is employed for certain purposes or under certain conditions.

The slug 10 is generally smaller in diameter than the interior of the shell 11 and is spaced at its forward pointed end farther from the forward end of the jacket than at the sides, with its rear blunt end terminating intermediate the shell, as shown in Fig.

1. The space between the slug and shell is filled with a mass of relatively soft metal or metalliccompound 12, such as lead, a oompound of lead and antimony, or lead and tin, or other suitable compound which will be disintegrated when the projectile strikes its objective.

-- By spacing the nose of the slug from the nose of the shell,,a relatively large portion of the soft metal lubricant or cushion 12 is located in advance of the slug,

the advantage and object to be hereafter explained.

Disposed Within the shell 10 rearwardly of the slug is a receptacle 13 for the tracer mixture or compound, indicated at 14-. The rear end of the rece tacle 13 is open and is secured in position by crimping the rear edge of the shell inwardly, as shown.

At its rear end the shell 13 is initially re duced or internally tapered as shown in Fig. 2 to facilitate the crimping operation The receptacle 13 bears at its closed inner end against therear end of the slug, as shown in Fig. 1'.

The lubricating member 12 is cast initially as shown in Fig. 3 and placed within the acket and pressed therein by a suitable implement to cause it to assume the shape shown in Fig. 1. The slug 10 is then inserted, the receptacle 3 disposed within the jacket rearwardly of the slug and bearing v by its closed inner end. against the rear end of the same, and the rear end of the shell crimped over the receptacle.

'The charge of the tracer mixture 14 may be deposited within the receptacle before or after it is disposed Within the shell, as may be preferred.

The action of the projectile is as follows: \Vhen the cartridge is fired, the flame from the propelling powder ignites the tracer composition, which burns throughout the flight of the projectile approximately 300 or 400 yards or longer, depending upon the tracer composition .used. Upon impact with the enemys armor plate, engine parts, or any other resisting material, the projectile jacket is shattered while the steel plug with its alloy lubricant causes penetration.

The lubricating substance 12 may be extended over the nose and sides of the slug lOas shown in Fig. 1, or over the nose only as shown in Fig. 5.

Having thus descrlbed the invention what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A projectile of the class described com- A prising ashell of amaterial fracturable by impact, an armor piercing slug within the shell, a mass of relatively soft metallic substance between the slug a receptacle within the shell rearwardly ot' the slug, said receptacle containing a substance for producing visible vapor and a flash of light. Y

2. A projectile of the class described, comrising a shell of a material fracturable by impact, an armor piercing slug within the shell, a mass of relatively soft metallic substance between the slug and the shell, a reand the shell, and

.ceptacle within the shell rearwardly of the slug, said receptacle containing a substance for producing visible vapor and a flash of light, and means for holding the receptacle Within the shell. f

3. A projectile of the class described comprising a shell of a material fracturable by impact, an armor piercing slug within the shell, a mass of relatively soft metallic substance between the slug and the shell, and a receptacle within the shell closed at the inner end and bearing thereby against the slug, said receptacle containing a substance for producing visible vapor and a flash of light. I

L, A projectile of the class described comprisinman armor piercing slug, a shell externall y of the slug of a material fracturable by impact, a mass of relatively soft metallic substance between the slug and the shell, and a receptacle within the shell containing a substance for producing a visible vapor and a flash of light.

5. A projectile of the class described comprising a shell of a material fracturable by impact, an armor piercing slug within the shell, a mass of relatively soft substance between the slug and the shell, and a receptacle containing a vaporizing and inflammable substance.

6. A projectile of the class described comprising a shell fracturable by impact, an armor piercing slugwithin the shell, a mass of relatively soft metallic substance between the slug and the shell, a receptacle for tracer material within the shell bearing at one end against the slug and retained in place by a crimped portion of said shell. WALLACE L. CLAY. 

